LEWISTON — Several residents called for more accountability and better collaboration between police and community organizations during a two-hour forum on public safety Tuesday.
A citizen review board was mentioned several times as a potential solution, as was addressing the root causes of youth crime, the need for parents to get more involved, and the need for more positive outlets for young people.
The forum was organized by Mayor Carl Sheline and City Council President Linda Scott in response to more questions from the public regarding safety following the Knox Street shooting that left two dead last month. Since then, at least one more shooting occurred, this time on downtown Lisbon Street.
Scott said she’d received “a lot of concerned calls” and wanted to hear residents’ opinions. The two-hour forum was at times tense, with roughly 75 people attending at Connors Elementary School.
Fowsia Musse, a well-known Lewiston resident, said the recent issues appear to be a three-pronged problem: the Police Department not engaging with the Somali and New Mainer communities, a lack of parenting, and a lack of accountability.
Last week, police officials said more regular foot patrols would occur on downtown streets, including Knox Street.
During the meeting, some local residents said Knox Street reminds them of Baltimore.
One woman, who works in the courts as an interpreter, said she doesn’t agree the city needs more policing.
“The community doesn’t trust the police,” she said. “The best solution is there are a lot of organizations who care a lot about the people here but everyone is working separately. Instead, we should be working together as a group.”
Another younger resident said there’s “a disconnect between police and immigrants,” and there is “no effort put into it.”
“People my age don’t want to communicate with them, there’s a stigma,” he said, adding that youth feel like there isn’t much to do in the city, which leads to problems.
Amran Osman of the organization Generational Noor said many times the discussion is focused on the problem and not on its root causes. She said kids feel alone and that no one understands them.
She said the Somali community has “been here in Lewiston so long and we still don’t understand each others’ culture.”
Fatuma Hussein, director of the Immigrant Resource Center of Maine, said, “No child should be on the street in the middle of the night. That falls on parents and someone should be held accountable.”
But, she also asked people to understand the culture differences of families trying to integrate here. She said the community needs to come together, offer trainings and institute ways to “hold our systems accountable.”
One speaker, Hunter, said he’s seen firsthand accounts of “disturbing details” of how some members of the police department interact with the public. He was one of several people who said a citizen review board, which could review alleged police misconduct, is a way to achieve “true justice through accountability.”
Police officials are hosting a separate forum Thursday night at Connors Elementary School.
Last week, Chief David St. Pierre said that since the Knox Street shooting, the department has been in contact with the Somali and Muslim communities through local Imams, and had plans to meet with more organizations.
St. Pierre previously addressed public criticism of the police response to the Knox Street shooting, including reports that a victim’s body was left uncovered for hours, and has said a major barrier to police investigations of crime is a lack of communication.
Several young people spoke during the forum Tuesday about what they’re seeing, including the need for adults to better support and understand the issues impacting youth today.
One young woman said Lewiston is struggling, but that the issues are not caused by “a Somali kid” or “a white kid.”
“They’re caused by a system that criminalizes poor people, a system that is pitted against us,” she said, adding that “safety is a legitimate concern, but we need to realize we are the only people who can save our community.”
One young man said parents need to be more strict with kids and set an example.
Closer to the end of the forum, School Committee Chairperson Megan Parks attempted to sum up things issues mentioned multiple times. She said the city needs more trauma-informed services, the community is “scared of police and don’t trust them, and we need a citizen review board,” and “the desire for safety is not limited by our individual cultures.”
“We need to stop the blaming and division,” she said.
One man who said he had raised his kids in Lewiston because it was safer than other cities and his home country, said the larger community needs to find ways to connect with police.
“In a lot of the countries we came from, police were enemy number one,” he said. “We need to eliminate that.”
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